Category: National

(NEW YORK) — In its first note of the day, the jury in Daniel Penny’s manslaughter and negligent homicide trial reported that it is “unable to come to a unanimous vote” on whether Penny committed second-degree manslaughter in the death of Jordan Neely, a homeless man, on the New York City subway.

“We the jury request instructions from Judge Wiley. At this time, we are unable to come to a unanimous vote on court one,” the note said.

Judge Maxwell Wiley gave the jury an Allen charge, which refers to the jury instructions given to a hung jury that encourages them to continue deliberating despite the deadlock. He is giving the lawyers time to consider the next steps.

Penny’s lawyer, Thomas Kenniff, unsuccessfully moved for a mistrial, arguing that the Allen Charge would be “coercive.”

Wiley disagreed, saying that it was “too early” to declare a mistrial before encouraging the jury to continue their deliberations.

Since the jury got the case on Tuesday, they have deliberated for more than 20 hours.

Penny, a 25-year-old former Marine, put Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man, in a six-minute-long chokehold after Neely boarded a subway car acting erratically, according to police. Witnesses described Neely yelling and moving erratically, with Penny’s attorneys calling Neely “insanely threatening” when Penny put Neely in a chokehold.

The city’s medical examiner concluded Penny’s chokehold killed Neely.

Penny pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and negligent homicide charges.

The verdict form asks the jury to decide the first count – second-degree manslaughter – before potentially moving to the second count of criminally negligent homicide. Only if it finds Penny not guilty on the first count, can it consider the second count of criminally negligent homicide.

The second-degree manslaughter charge only requires prosecutors to have proven Penny acted recklessly, not intentionally.

“It would be a crazy result to have a hung jury just because they can’t move on to the second count?” prosecutor Dafna Yoran said.

Yoran also told Wiley that a new trial would “ultimately [be] the case if they hang the case.”

Wiley left unanswered the question about whether the jury could move onto the second count if they are unable to reach a verdict on the first count. He said he believed the jury moving to the second count is possible but needs to find the legal authority to do so.

“I think ultimately we are going to have to answer the question of whether they can move to count two,” he said.

Twenty minutes after the judge encouraged them to continue deliberating despite their deadlock, the jury sent back another note requesting more information about the term “reasonable person” in their instructions.

“Ultimately, what a reasonable person is up to you to decide,” Wiley told the jury in response to their note, referring them to a two-part test in jury instruction.

To convict Penny of manslaughter, the jury must be convinced Penny acted recklessly and grossly deviated from how a reasonable person would behave, knowing the risk his conduct posed.

“Would a reasonable person have had the same honestly held belief as the defendant given the circumstances and what the defendant knew at that time?” Wiley asked, referring to the second part of the test.

Before the jury entered, Wiley noted how the “reasonableness” standard was established in People v. Goetz – another high-profile New York trial after Bernhard Goetz shot four teenagers on a New York subway in 1984 after they allegedly tried to rob him. A New York jury convicted Goetz for one count of carrying an unlicensed firearm but acquitted on the more severe charges, and the trial sparked a nationwide debate about race and crime that has echoed forty years later in Penny’s case.

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(NEW YORK) — Officials say two migrant teens were victims in a New York City stabbing, one fatally, after the teens were asked if they spoke English and they responded that they didn’t.

Officials say a trio of men approached the teens around 7:40 p.m. Thursday night, when one of the men asked if the teens spoke English. When the teens said they did not, they were attacked, according to police.

Police say they responded to a 911 call for an assault in Lower Manhattan. Upon arrival, officers found a 17-year-old male with a stab wound to the chest and an 18-year-old male with a stab wound to the left arm.

Emergency medical services responded and transported both teens to the NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue location, according to officials.

The 17-year-old male, now identified by officials as Yeremi Colino, succumbed to his injuries and the 18-year-old male is in stable condition, the NYPD reports.

The surviving victim believed he was stabbed with a screwdriver, police said. A knife was recovered at the scene, according to police, who say they will test it for forensics.

The three suspects fled the stabbing on foot. They are described as being in their 20s with dark complexions.

One was wearing a green jacket, white pants and white sneakers. Second was wearing red pants and a red hooded sweatshirt with a black jacket, also had a black backpack. Third was wearing red sweatpants, red hooded sweatshirt, black jacket and blue and white sneakers.

There are no arrests at this time, and the investigation remains ongoing, according to police.

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(NEW YORK) — In its first note of the day, the jury in Daniel Penny’s manslaughter and negligent homicide trial reported that it is “unable to come to a unanimous vote” on whether Penny committed second-degree manslaughter in the death of Jordan Neely, a homeless man, on the New York City subway.

“We the jury request instructions from Judge Wiley. At this time, we are unable to come to a unanimous vote on court one,” the note said.

Since the jury got the case on Tuesday, they have deliberated for more than 18 hours.

Penny, a 25-year-old former Marine, put Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man, in a six-minute-long chokehold after Neely boarded a subway car acting erratically, according to police. Witnesses described Neely yelling and moving erratically, with Penny’s attorneys calling Neely “insanely threatening” when Penny put Neely in a chokehold.

The city’s medical examiner concluded Penny’s chokehold killed Neely.

Penny pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and negligent homicide charges.

The verdict form asks the jury to decide the first count – second-degree manslaughter – before potentially moving to the second count of criminally negligent homicide. Only if it finds Penny not guilty on the first count, can it consider the second count of criminally negligent homicide.

Judge Maxwell Wiley proposed giving the jury an Allen charge, encouraging them to continue deliberating despite the deadlock. He is giving the lawyers time to consider the next steps.

“It would be a crazy result to have a hung jury just because they can’t move on to the second count?” prosecutor Dafna Yoran said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(NEW YORK) — The unidentified man suspected of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson remains at large after the “brazen, targeted” shooting outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel on Wednesday, police said.

Here is a timeline of the suspect’s whereabouts before, during and after the shooting:

Nov. 24

The killer entered New York City by bus on Nov. 24, when a surveillance camera at Port Authority Bus Terminal caught his arrival at 9 p.m., law enforcement sources told ABC News.

The inbound bus originated in Atlanta but it was not immediately clear where the suspect boarded.

He likely checked into a hostel on New York City’s Upper West Side that day and later checked out, sources said.

Nov. 30

The suspect likely checked back into the HI New York City Hostel on the Upper West Side on Nov. 30, sources said.

Dec. 4 at 5 a.m.

At 5 a.m., nearly two hours before the shooting, the suspect was seen in surveillance footage outside the hostel on the Upper West Side, holding what appears to be an e-bike battery.

6:15 a.m.

At 6:15 a.m., surveillance footage reviewed by police shows someone who appears to be the suspect leaving a 57th Street subway station near the crime scene, police sources told ABC News.

Before the shooting

Sometime before the shooting, the suspect is spotted at a Starbucks. The exact time is not clear.

6:29 a.m.

The suspect appeared to walk past a parking lot on West 54th Street at 6:29 a.m. — across the street some 50 meters from the site of the shooting.

6:44 a.m.

At 6:44 a.m., the masked gunman fatally shot Brian Thompson in front of the north entrance to the New York Hilton Midtown.

“The shooter then walks toward the victim and continues to shoot,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said. “It appears that the gun malfunctions, as he clears the jam and begins to fire again.”

The shooter fled on foot into an alley, where a phone believed to be linked to the suspect was later recovered, police sources said.

Time unknown

The suspect then fled north on a bike and rode into Central Park, police said.

6:59 a.m.

A person appearing to be the suspect was seen just before 7 a.m. on the Upper West Side. He was riding a bicycle away from Central Park, heading west on 85th Street. He no longer had a backpack on.

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(NEW YORK) — The unidentified man suspected of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel remains at large after Wednesday’s attack, which was described by police as “brazen, targeted” and “premeditated.”

The killer entered New York City by bus on Nov. 24, when a surveillance camera at Port Authority Bus Terminal caught his arrival at 9 p.m., law enforcement sources told ABC News.

The inbound bus originated in Atlanta but it was not immediately clear where the suspected boarded.

Police are investigating whether the suspect left New York City by bus on Wednesday after the murder.

The 10-day period he was in New York City before the shooting is the focus of investigative efforts.

Police have collected video of the suspect all over the city, including in the subway, in cabs and in a McDonald’s, sources told ABC News. In each place, he paid with cash and he made sure to keep his mask on, which indicates to detectives he knew he was coming to New York City to commit the murder, sources said.

Police were able to find a surveillance image of the suspect without his face mask on because he was flirting with the woman who checked him into the hostel, police sources said.

As he stood at the check-in desk, the sources said the woman asked to see his smile. The shooter obliged, pulling down his mask long enough for the surveillance camera to capture his face.

Police have determined the suspect checked into the hostel using a New Jersey license that wasn’t his own, police sources told ABC News.

The masked gunman shot Thompson at point-blank range at 6:44 a.m. Wednesday outside the New York Hilton Midtown, where Thompson was heading for his company’s investors conference.

“The shooter then walks toward the victim and continues to shoot,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said. “It appears that the gun malfunctions, as he clears the jam and begins to fire again.”

Written on the shell casings were the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose,” according to police sources.

The words on the bullets echo the title of the 2010 book “Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It.” Police are aware of the similarity, and are investigating whether one possible motive is anger at the insurance industry, sources said.

The suspect fled on foot into an alley, where a phone believed to be linked to the suspect was later recovered, police sources said.

He then fled north on a bike and rode into Central Park, police said.

A person appearing to be the suspect was seen just before 7 a.m. on the Upper West Side, riding a bicycle away from Central Park. He has not been spotted since.

UnitedHealth Group said in a statement that its “hearts are broken” and that they have been “touched by the huge outpouring of kindness and support.”

“So many patients, consumers, health care professionals, associations, government officials and other caring people have taken time out of their day to reach out. We are thankful, even as we grieve,” UnitedHealth Group, parent company of UnitedHealthcare, said. “Our priorities are, first and foremost, supporting Brian’s family; ensuring the safety of our employees; and working with law enforcement to bring the perpetrator to justice.”

“We, at UnitedHealth Group, will continue to be there for those who depend upon us for their health care,” the statement continued. “We ask that everyone respect the family’s privacy as they mourn the loss of their husband, father, brother and friend.”

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(NEW YORK) — Public health officials are continuing to monitor an outbreak of avian influenza, also known as bird flu, as it spreads across the U.S.

The strain, known as H5N1, sickened several mammals this year before infecting dozens of Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There is no evidence of person-to-person transmission of bird flu, and the risk to the general public is low, the CDC said.

But public health experts have also said it’s important to be alert during the respiratory virus season and to be aware of risks that could come from exposure to infected animals and from drinking raw milk.

Here’s the latest information on the outbreak in the United States:

What is the status of the bird flu outbreak?
Avian influenza, or bird flu, is an infectious viral disease that primarily spreads among birds and is caused by infection with Avian Influenza A viruses.

These viruses typically spread among wild aquatic birds but can infect domestic poultry and other bird and animal species, according to the CDC. In the U.S., the virus infected dairy cows.

“What’s made this year’s outbreak interesting is the association with dairy cows, which is not an association that’s been seen before,” Michael Ben-Aderet, an infectious disease physician and associate director of hospital epidemiology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, told ABC News.

“H5N1 has been known for many, many years. It’s not a new strain of bird flu, but we haven’t seen it cross over into dairy cows and have this association with dairy cows and dairy workers,” he continued.

As of Thursday, 58 human cases have been confirmed in seven states, according to CDC data. California has the highest number of cases with 32.

Almost all confirmed cases have had direct contact with infected cattle or infected livestock.

So far, all bird flu cases in the U.S. have been mild, and patients have all recovered after receiving antiviral medication.

“There has been another strain in Canada that caused really severe disease in a teenager who ended up in critical condition in the hospital,” Dr. Meghan Davis, an associate professor of environmental health and engineering at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told ABC News. “So yes, these [strains] are highly related, but not quite the same.”

What are the risks associated with raw milk?
In April reports emerged of bird flu fragments found in samples of pasteurized milk.

However, the fragments are inactive remnants of the virus; they cannot cause infection because the commercial milk supply undergoes pasteurization.

“The good news is that pasteurization inactivates [the virus], and so, when you do that test to look at fragments of the virus, although we find it in milk, the pasteurization process ensures that live virus is not transmitted,” Albert Ko, an epidemiologist at the Yale School of Public Health, told ABC News.

However, the Food and Drug Administration has previously warned of the possible dangers associated with drinking raw, unpasteurized milk due to elevated risks of foodborne illness.

On Tuesday, all of Raw Farm’s raw whole milk and cream products that were still on store shelves in California were being voluntarily recalled by the company, following multiple detections of bird flu virus in its milk and dairy supply within the past week, according to public health officials.

The CDC said it considers exposure to raw milk without personal protective equipment a “high-risk exposure event.”

“Raw milk consumers need to be aware that even handling the product itself could be a kind of exposure,” Davis said. “So, if you’re pouring it, you spill a little milk, get that on your hands, touch your eyes. You could get the same kind of exposure as someone who works in a dairy farm.”

Are we at risk of a bird flu pandemic?
Experts said the U.S. is currently not experiencing a bird flu pandemic, nor is the country presently at risk of a bird flu pandemic.

However, they said with each new human case, it offers a chance for the virus to mutate, theoretically enabling human-to-human transmission to occur at a point in the future.

“I think the warning sign is just, because there’s so much transmission in birds and there’s transmission now in our cattle, particularly we really are concerned about the possibility that there may be a mutation that enables person to person or human-to-human transmission,” Ko said.

Ben-Aderet said there is also concern as the U.S. heads into the winter respiratory virus season that the seasonal flu — which has the ability to exchange parts of its genome with other influenza viruses — could do the same with bird flu.

Health officials are taking proactive measures to prevent such a situation from occurring.

The World Health Organization announced in July that it has launched an initiative to help accelerate the development of a human bird flu vaccine using messenger RNA technology.

In October, federal health officials announced they are providing $72 million to vaccine manufacturers to help ensure available non-mRNA bird flu vaccines are ready-to-use, if needed.

There are currently no recommendations for anyone in the U.S. to be vaccinated against bird flu.

ABC News’ Youri Bendjaoud contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — The Russian woman accused of sneaking onto a Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Paris has been charged with knowingly and intentionally secreting herself aboard an airplane.

Svetlana Dali, 57, was arrested by the FBI on Wednesday after returning to New York. She made her first court appearance Thursday.

“On or about November 26, 2024, the defendant Svetlana Dali snuck onto Delta Airlines flight DL264 at JFK without a boarding pass and flew as a stowaway to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris,” according to the criminal complaint obtained by ABC News.

In her first appearance, the judge issued a temporary order of detention until 2 p.m. Friday so she can try to come up with a bail package and a verifiable residence.

She did not enter a plea.

Surveillance footage from Nov. 26 showed Dali arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport and attempting to get in line at a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint. She was turned away because she was unable to show a boarding pass, the complaint said.

A few minutes later, Dali successfully accessed the TSA line “by entering through a special lane for airline employees masked by a large Air Europa flight crew,” the complaint said. Dali was screened and boarded the plane without presenting a boarding pass.

“Delta agents, who were busy helping ticketed passengers board, did not stop her or ask her to present a boarding pass before she boarded the plane,” the complaint said.

By the time the crew realized Dali did not have a seat, the plane was on its way to France.

“Before the flight landed, Delta employees notified French law enforcement that Dali was on the plane as a stowaway,” the complaint stated.

During an interview with the FBI upon her return, Dali allegedly admitted to flying as a stowaway. She allegedly stated she did not have a plane ticket and that she intentionally evaded TSA security officials and Delta employees so she could travel without buying one.

Dali admitted the surveillance images depicted her, according to the complaint. She also stated she knew her conduct was illegal.

Less than a week before the incident, Dali filed a civil lawsuit against the FBI, Pennsylvania State Police and other authorities, claiming she was sold by the Russian Federation to her ex-husband for $20,000.

The lawsuit claims she was abused and poisoned.

Dali filed the lawsuit herself and the allegations are handwritten.

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(GEORGIA) — Three people have been indicted over an alleged drunk driving crash in Georgia that killed a high school student in February — including parents accused of letting the teens drink before the crash.

Sumanth and Anindita Rao, who are 50 and 49 respectively, face charges of involuntary manslaughter, reckless conduct and maintaining a disorderly house, DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announced in a press conference Wednesday.

The car’s driver, 18-year-old Hannah Hackemeyer, faces numerous charges, including vehicular homicide and driving under the influence of alcohol under the age of 21.

On Feb. 24, Hackemeyer crashed a car after drinking alcohol at the Raos’ home, police said. She and the Raos’ teen daughter, Ananya, were able to crawl out of the flipped vehicle, but a third passenger, 18-year-old Sophia Lekiachvili, was trapped in the front passenger seat.

Lekiachvili was transported to the hospital, where she died of her injuries, according to police.

Hackemeyer had allegedly been driving more than 60 miles per hour over the speed limit when she crashed, and had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.046, more than twice the legal limit for a person under 21, police said.

According to Boston, the three teenagers had spent the evening leading up to the crash at the Raos’ home, where they drank wine, allegedly “in plain view of Ananya’s parents.”

Shortly before midnight, they allegedly told Sumanth Rao they wanted to go for a drive, Boston said.

“Ananya’s parents knew the girls had been drinking, but they still let them get into a car and leave the house with an open bottle of wine in the front seat,” Boston said. “Less than 30 minutes later, a little more than a half mile away, that decision would prove deadly.”

Boston alleged that allowing the teens to drink was “not an anomaly” at the home of the Raos, who she said had a “long-standing, repeated pattern of allowing teenagers to drink in their home.”

“The Raos’ home was the party house where teens could freely consume alcohol without interference from the adults who lived there — the adults who should have accepted responsibility,” Boston said. “It is a miracle that nothing happened prior to Feb. 24.”

Lekiachvili’s death was a “foreseeable consequence” of the Raos’ alleged permissiveness with teen drinking in their home, Boston said.

“As a prosecutor and a mother of two teenage daughters, I have never seen a more egregious disregard for safety and well-being of young people as I have in this case,” Boston said.

Attorney information for Hackemeyer and the Raos was not immediately available.

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(NEW YORK) — Police appear to be closing in on the identity of the man suspected of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan, sources told ABC News.

Authorities on Thursday released images of the suspect taken from a surveillance camera at the HI New York City Hostel at West 103rd Street on the Upper West Side, where it appears the suspect shared a room with two other men, according to police sources.

The NYPD has obtained a warrant to search the hostel. Detectives are canvassing other hostels and locations on the Upper West Side and beyond, showing the suspect’s picture as they work to identify him, sources told ABC News.

The gunman shot Thompson at close range on Wednesday morning outside a Hilton Hotel where he was attending a conference.

The “brazen, targeted attack” was “premeditated,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

Bullet casings found at the scene had the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” written on them, police sources said.

The motive remains unknown, police said.

The gun used in the shooting hasn’t been recovered, sources said.

Police believe the shooter used a B&T Station Six, known in Great Britain as a Welrod pistol, according to police sources. The gun doesn’t have a silencer but does have a long barrel that enables the 9 mm to fire a nearly silent shot. The gun requires manually cycling ammunition from the magazine.

The weapon is not easily attainable so investigators have been running down all recent purchases, according to police sources. NYPD detectives arrived Thursday at a gun shop in Connecticut that sold a weapon of the same type, sources said.

Thompson, 50, was in New York City for the UnitedHealthcare investors conference, which was scheduled to start at 8 a.m. His schedule was widely known, police sources said.

The suspect — who was caught on surveillance cameras before, during and immediately after the shooting — had been lying in wait near the hotel.

After Thompson exited his hotel across the street and walked to the Hilton, the masked gunman shot him at about 6:40 a.m., police said.

“The shooter then walks toward the victim and continues to shoot,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said. “It appears that the gun malfunctions, as he clears the jam and begins to fire again.”

The shooter fled on foot into an alley, where a phone believed to be linked to the suspect was later recovered, police sources said.

The suspect then fled on a bike and rode into Central Park, police said.

The shooter was caught on surveillance video at 5 a.m. Wednesday outside the Frederick Douglass Houses, a public housing project on the Upper West Side, sources told ABC News. That footage showed the suspect carrying what appeared to be an e-bike battery.

Police have recovered a water bottle and candy wrapper from the crime scene which they believe are linked to the gunman. Fingerprint and DNA tests on the items are ongoing, law enforcement sources told ABC News.

Thompson’s wife, Paulette Thompson, said in a statement that she is “shattered” by the “senseless killing.”

“Brian was an incredibly loving, generous, talented man who truly lived life to the fullest and touched so many lives,” she said. “Most importantly, Brian was an incredibly loving father to our two sons and will be greatly missed.”

Police urge the public to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS with any information.

ABC News’ Mark Crudele and Josh Margolin contributed to this report.

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(PETROLIA, Calif) — A 7.0 magnitude earthquake was reported off the coast of Northern California on Thursday, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The epicenter is off the coast near Petrolia, in Humboldt County, the USGS said.

Also, a tsunami warning that had been issued for coastal areas in California and Oregon, including San Francisco, was canceled just before noon local time.

“The tsunami Warning is canceled for the coastal areas of California and Oregon,” the National Tsunami Warning Center wrote on X. “No tsunami danger presently exists for this area.”

The warning had been in effect from Davenport, California, to Douglas/Lane Line Oregon, the National Tsunami Warning Center said.

Police in Berkeley, California, had issued an evacuation order for parts of the city “due to a tsunami coming to West Berkeley.”

“People in the Tsunami Zone are in IMMEDIATE DANGER and MUST EVACUATE NOW,” the police department said. “Stay east of 7th St. This is a lawful order to leave now.”

The earthquake was reported at 10:44 a.m. local time, according to the National Tsunami Warning Center.

Subsequent earthquakes were reported in the region, including a 4.2 magnitude earthquake near Petrolia, according to the USGS.

Shake alerts in the USGS’s earthquake early warning system were delivered as far north as Lincoln City, Oregon, and as far south as Salinas, California, the agency said.

“System was activated and performed as designed. Still trying to ascertain how much warning people received,” the USGS said.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said officials with the state’s Office of Emergency Services are “actively responding to the earthquakes this morning in Northern California.”

“Californians should follow guidance from local emergency responders,” he said on social media.

Regarding aftershocks, there is currently a 5% chance of a magnitude 6 or larger earthquake occurring in the next week, and a 34% chance of a magnitude 5 quake occurring in that time frame, the USGS said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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